1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the display of maps and information about a present position on the map on a navigation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A navigation apparatus mounted on a vehicle may be used to guide a user in traveling from one location to another. A display may be used to present a map of an area and a mark indicating the present position of the vehicle. The navigation apparatus may also include guidance technology that allows a user to set a designation and will in turn set a guidance route to the accepted destination, and guide the user along the set guidance route.
Other technology, known as altering (or scrolling), may also be used in displaying a map in a navigation apparatus. Various user operations, such as moving the cursor, or scrolling the map, or the like, may use altering. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-292194 and 2002-81942 Publications, a map of the area covering the present position may displayed while allowing for scrolling of the range or area of the map displayed in accordance with the user operations. Such altering technology of the map range displayed may be used to allow the user to scroll the displayed map range until an area covering a desired location is entirely displayed, thus allowing the user to set the destination.
A map depicting the present position and its surroundings often needs to be recognized in details over a little wider range than the range being currently displayed. For example, a user may wish to locate the exact position of a facility on a map when he/she reaches the vicinity of the facility, even though the user may only vaguely remember the exact position of the facility. Alternatively, a user may be searching for a convenience store. In such cases, if a map display scale is rendered small, a map covering a wider range of the vicinity of the present position can be displayed. This, however, results in degradation of the degrees of detail of the map or of visibility thereof, so that the map cannot be recognized in more detail.
In these situations, application of conventional scrolling technology for scrolling the map range displayed allows for movement of the map display range with a display scale kept large. Movement of the map, however, causes the map display range to be moved to an area that does not include the present position while the user is scrolling the map range. As a result, a positional relationship between the map display range being currently displayed and the present position is missed by the user.